A former Missouri therapist initially accused of murdering two patients had been sentenced on manslaughter charges, after admitting that she injected them with medications they weren’t prescribed.
KTTN reports that 42–year-old Jennifer Anne Hall was sentenced to 18 years behind bars for the 2002 deaths of Fern Franco, 75, and David Wesley Harper, 37. Both deaths happened at the Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe, during “medically suspicious” events.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, in the five months Hall worked at Hedrick Medical Center, between December 2001 and May 2002, there were 18 sudden cardiac arrest events at the hospital, resulting in nine deaths. The facility typically averaged one per year.
An autopsy on Franco identified the presence of succinylcholine and morphine, which were not prescribed to the patient or ordered by her doctors.
Three days after being admitted to the medical center for bronchitis, Harper died, prosecutors said. A nurse said she discovered Harper sitting on the edge of his bed before experiencing a sudden “complete respiratory arrest,” DailyMail reports.
“Because of Hall’s singular proximity to stricken patients, her access to pharmaceuticals which are deadly if misused, and her discovery and method of notifying staff of every patient’s cardiac emergency, nursing staff believed Hall was responsible for the patient deaths,” Chillicothe Police Officer Brian Schmidt wrote.
Administrators put Hall on leave three days after Franco died; the cardiac incidents “returned to normal frequency,” court records state, according to CBS News.
The hospital then fired Hall months later upon learning that she had been convicted of arson at a different hospital where she worked previously, even though she was later acquitted.
“A sentence 20 years in the making,” Livingston County Prosecuting Attorney Adam Warren said in a statement, following the sentencing.
“I am happy that justice is finally served for Jennifer Hall. Families of loved ones, Doctors, and Nurses have been waiting for this day. It wouldn’t have happened without the efforts of the Chillicothe Police Department who gave this complicated cold case enough time and energy to get this conviction.
“The sentence was for 18 years. Jennifer Hall will be able to parole someday. But for now, we all sleep better knowing she is behind bars.”
Initially facing two charges of first-degree murder, Hall ultimately took a plea deal in April and admitted to lesser charges of first-degree involuntary manslaughter for the two deaths. She also pleaded guilty to one count of attempting second-degree assault.
Hall will be eligible for parole. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Jennifer Anne Hall/Livingston County Sheriff’s Office]
